Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I do join with my colleagues in welcoming you all to our committee. I'm delighted--I'm sure we all are--to see the five provinces work together on this very complex and important issue. I suppose in one way there's probably less competition. We're not talking about fishing in each other's backyard here; it's inside the provincial waters for the most part.
One of the intriguing things that I learned today is that the science is not well known, yet I don't see an interest in science as part of the solution. It seems that ought to be emphasized a little bit more.
I wanted to ask about the idea of increasing the size of the lobster, as was mentioned in P.E.I. and a number of places. I know Minister Hedderson from Newfoundland and Labrador would be aware of some voluntary efforts by some individuals on the northeast coast who say they're going to keep these lobster in the water at their own personal expense until next year or the next to ensure they're going to make a sustainable product and build up the industry.
Where you have the gluts and the ups and downs in the market, is there room for a significant program to support this effort to keep the lobster in the water and use it maybe counter-cyclically or something like that? Is there thought of a program like that? I know you're working together, and I hope you'll continue to work together, but there needs to be something that everybody's agreed upon and that hopefully the feds will support.
Mr. Hedderson, do you have any comments?